Dodd puts the hammer down! 2025 AMCA British Motocross Championship Round 1 – Race Report and Results

Maiden winners, new names scoring big points, great racing and a little bit of drama, the opening round of the 2025 AMCA British Motocross Championship at Fatcat Motoparc had it all! Indeed, the first race of the new season was to set the stall out for what was to unfold and produce a fairytale story with possibly the emergence of a new AMCA star!

Race Report and Images by Mike Wood

In the combined 125cc/125cc Youth contest, one of the new, young kids on the block was to bag a stunning victory, so take a bow, Franky Jubb. After battling with fellow youth rider Linc Hasted, Yamaha mounted Jubb broke clear to win by just over 11 seconds as Luke Newman, Wyatt McGregor, Woz Boyce and Will Turner were next up. For defending 125cc AMCA Champion Jimmy Margetson, the day did not start quite so well after being involved in a first-turn crash, which smashed his rear brake cylinder, resulting in a quick, unwanted pit stop. Restarting in 29th place, Jimmy then displayed his true class to blast back through the pack and bag a very hard-earned 11th spot.

125cc Championship class winner Luke Newman

Following the ecstasy of his maiden, spectacular win, unfortunately, Jubb was to suffer the agony, injuring his hand during moto one and so not being able to compete for the rest of the weekend. So, with Jubb missing, Moto Two produced a win for Margetson with the very impressive Boyce in 2nd and McGregor, Newman, Hasted, Turner and Benjamin Sullivan next up. In the first race on Sunday this frantic 125cc Championship chase produced a third different victor of the weekend as Boyce scored his own maiden success chased home by Aaron Colley. Not enjoying the most profitable of meetings, Margetson, this time, suffered from a spluttering motor caused by a damaged reed valve block, finishing down in 16th.

With a brand-new reed block fitted and the motor back on full song, Jimmy bounced back to finish with a final moto victory ahead of the consistent McGregor, Newman, Hasted, Chris Brindley, Sullivan, Turner and Colley. So, after four great 125cc clashes, it was a delighted Newman taking a richly deserved maiden AMCA Championship overall win in the main 125cc class from McGregor and Margetson. In the Youth 125cc, Hasted was the top lad, with Ollie Jewitt in 2nd and Boyce 3rd.

Once again, in the 2025 AMCA series, the Open and MX2 classes compete together and what fantastic action they were to produce at Fatcat with battles raging in all four motos right throughout the pack as 450cc locked horns with 250cc. Moto one was all about the FUS Marsh Honda boys as James Dodd and Henry Williams went at it, swapping positions at the front before 450cc pilot Dodd eventually took the win. Will Hughes got home in a strong 3rd with Jayden Ashwell, Josh Waterman, Luke Dean, Liam Gale, Daiyaan Manuel and Luke Meredith, performing in style and having his first ride on an MX2 machine for some 16 years also in the frame. In a stunning moto two, Dodd was again fastest away, but two laps in and Hughes slipped through and into the lead. From here onwards, Hughes and Dodd produced an absolute classic tussle, never being more than a couple of metres apart. At the flag, Hughes had just about held on for a great win with all of the above-named riders again in contention as Adam Wells and Callum Murfitt rounded off the top ten.

Proving that he was already comfortable on his new 450F Lane Racing Yamaha, Gale made a flying start in Moto Three, even grabbing the pole position for a few laps. Liam, though, was then relegated back to 5th as Dodd, Hughes, Williams and Waterman all found a way through. With Hughes then lining up another move on leader Dodd, it was all going wrong for the AD Modular KTM ace as he crashed with just one lap remaining and dropped down to 9th. So that meant victory going to Dodd with his FUS teammate Williams again in a strong 2nd on the 250F ahead of fellow MX2 contenders Waterman and Dean.

In his normally cool, composed and controlled style, Doddy then looked on course to make it a hat-trick of Fatcat moto wins as he led the final clash. However, there was a Waterman express rapidly gaining momentum and storming through the pack, moving from 8th up to 2nd. Passing Gale, Meredith, Dean, Hughes and Williams, Josh then dramatically closed the gap on leader Dodd. Now that Doddy was well within his sights, Josh made his move, making a spectacular pass shortly after the riders had taken the last lap flag before, then hung on to bag a great win. With Open and MX2 scored separately, Dodd, Hughes and Ashwell filled the big bike podium as Williams, Waterman and Dean took home the MX2 trophies.

Over in the combined 85cc class, the new name Stanley Siebert led all four motos just about from the opening lap to the chequered flag and in some style! The only riders throughout the event to briefly get ahead of the flying Siebert were Aston Whitehead, Freddie Smith, Freddie Darvill and Sean Smout. In Moto one, Smout, Alfie Pincher, Whitehead and Jimmy Whiston, all on BW85cc machines, were next up, with Darvill, the first SW85cc pilot home in a great 6th. Brodie Knock joined the top six party in Moto 2 as, once again, Darvill was the first SW rider home, closely followed by Smith.

Having a fantastic ride, Darvill then upped the SW pressure in moto three by bagging a strong 3rd as new names Finn Fitzgerald and Ryan Tilley scored their best placings of the weekend. With the immaculate Siebert strolling to another win in the last contest to thus also confirm overall BW85cc victory from Smout and Pincher as Darvill took 7th, enough to bag the SW85cc overall verdict from Smith and George Milnes.

Women’s championship action as Lauren Collingwood leads Grace Richards.

Despite suffering a back injury, Lauren Collingwood still posted the fastest qualifying time in the Women’s Championship before then producing to hand out a masterclass in gating! In all four motos, Lauren was simply electric out of the gate and led defending Women’s Champion Grace Richards for several laps. Grace, though, displayed why she is a top Lady by riding clever races, staying close and not panicking before picking her moment to make her move and hit the front. So as Grace and Lauren raced clear to bag 1st and 2nd places, respectively, on each occasion, Amber McGregor proved very consistent by getting home in a rather lonely 3rd spot. Although the top three places were quickly sorted, there were still some super battles going on further downfield. Holly Williams was to go on to earn 4th by seeing off Erin Howes, Caitlin Newman, Jaymee Garrood, Sasha Tollet, Sophie Jones and Lily Moreland.

Women’s Championship class winner Grace Richards.

There were several new names on the 2025 AMCA Vets Championship start line, and they certainly made their presence felt. In moto one, though, it looked just like a 2024 repeat as Over 40’s Champion James Lane took the win from his brother and Over 50’s Champion Simon Lane. New boy Sam Callow was the 3rd place finisher in the season opener, with early leader Simon Bonser, Jamie Dobson, Lee Martin and Mark Swift next up.

After being victorious in the opening clash, Moto Two, though, did not go to plan for James Lane as he was involved in a first-turn collision, which left him in a distant last place. Undeterred James did still get back to 8th at the flag as Simon Lane grabbed his first win in the 2025 Championship chase with Martin, Dobson, Callow, Bonser and Swift again scoring big points. Vets’ mot three then arguably produced the best of the bunch as Matt Ryder led the charge all the way, only to be passed on the final lap with Simon Lane’s finish line in sight. There was also a dash for the 3rd spot, which went right down to the wire as Dobson just held off James Lane.

In the last Vets contest it was Simon Lane all the way to thus start his title defence in style. The Vets this year have three classes, O40’s, O50’s and O60’s, which are scored separately. In the young ones group, debutant Dobson took the top slot at Fatcat from Martin and James Lane. O50’s podium featured Simon Lane, Ryder and Nicholas Pawson, whilst Brian Staples was the top O60 Vet ahead of Paul Blick.

Michael Harbage the Clubman Seniors winner

New for the 2025 AMCA Championship is a Juniors/Seniors Clubman contest, which produced a stacked entry. Oliver Parry and Harvey Hunt swapped positions at the front in Moto One before Hunt gained control for the win. Michael Harbage, Louis Tilley, Lewis Day and Oliver Critchley all started the meeting strongly by recording big points scoring rides. Harbage then led the second clash all the way, with Oliver Parry being his closest challenger. In a very topsy-turvy class, Ben Harrison then became the third different race winner of the weekend as Harbage, Tilley, Parry, Ricky Ryder and Day chased hard.

Scoring his second victory of the day, Harrison was at it again in the final Juniors/Seniors Clubman moto, but it was not enough to see him figure in the overall podium standings after not competing on day one. So, the Seniors podium featured winners Harbage, Parry, and Ryder, while Day was the top Juniors rider, joined by Critchley and Hunt.

Woz Boyce(417) the 3rd placed finisher in 125cc Youth.

With round one done, the stall has been set out, and the bar has been raised high for what promises to be a very entertaining, quality series.

Results

Open

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	James Dodd	97	25	22	25	25
2	Will Hughes	83	22	25	16	20
3	Jayden Ashwell	82	20	20	20	22
4	Liam Gale	68	18	16	22	12
5	Adam Wells	65	16	18	15	16
6	Jake Winnard	64	15	13	18	18
7	James Bates	58	14	15	14	15
8	Luke Bull	51	12	14	12	13
9	Joshua Fletcher-Williams	49	13	9	13	14
10	Charlie Whitlow	43	11	10	11	11
11	Harvey Gater	40	10	11	10	9
12	Ben Walker	19	–	–	9	10
13	Matt Burrows	12	–	12	–	–

MX2

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Henry Williams	97	25	25	25	22
2	Josh Waterman	91	22	22	22	25
3	Luke Dean	78	20	20	20	18
4	Luke Meredith	70	16	16	18	20
5	Callum Murfitt	56	14	15	15	12
6	Charlie Palmer	54	13	14	13	14
7	Daiyaan Manuel	52	18	18	–	16
8	Jack Davis	49	12	13	11	13
9	Jordan Wright	48	11	12	14	11
10	Logan Wilcox	46	15	–	16	15
11	Yarin Evans	42	10	11	12	9
12	Lewis Roberts	27	–	10	7	10
13	Tim Burrows	26	7	7	8	4
14	Patrick Gilligan	23	8	8	–	7
15	Conner Challinor	23	9	5	9	–
16	Toby Adamson	21	5	6	10	–
17	Billy Bayliss	21	6	9	6	–
18	Joshua Senter	18	3	3	4	8
19	Oliver Davis	16	4	4	5	3
20	Martin Jones	13	2	2	3	6
21	Alfie Lewis	9	1	1	2	5
22	Oliver Abbott	3	–	–	1	2

125cc

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Luke Newman	87	25	20	22	20
2	Wyatt McGregor	86	22	22	20	22
3	Jimmy Margetson	79	16	25	13	25
4	Benjamin Sullivan	70	18	18	18	16
5	Chris Brindley	64	14	16	16	18
6	Will Turner	64	20	14	15	15
7	Luke Phillips	55	15	13	14	13
8	Aaron Colley	54	–	15	25	14
9	Scott Corfield	48	13	12	11	12
10	Tremaine Young	46	12	11	12	11

125cc Youth

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Linc Hasted	89	22	22	20	25
2	Ollie Jewitt	82	18	20	22	22
3	Woz Boyce	70	20	25	25	–
4	Ted Bullen	63	14	13	16	20
5	Ryan Jackson	57	11	15	15	16
6	Harley Piper	52	10	10	14	18
7	Oakley Kettle	51	15	18	18	–
8	Oakley skinner	42	–	14	13	15
9	Bobby Turner	38	7	8	9	14
10	Zach Lakin	36	5	7	11	13
11	Jack Bullock	35	6	9	10	10
12	Ethan Ballam	30	–	6	12	12
13	Arley Marshall	29	13	16	–	–
14	Jacob Ince	28	4	5	8	11
15	Franky Jubb	25	25	–	–	–
16	Oliver Bebb	24	12	12	–	–
17	ryan oboye	20	9	11	–	–
18	Louis Perrin-Brown	16	16	–	–	–
19	Thomas Knifton	12	8	4	–	–
20	Milo Humphrey	5	2	3	–	–
21	William Siddons	3	3	–	–	–
22	Lennon Smith	1	1	–	–	–

Womens

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Grace Richards	100	25	25	25	25
2	Lauren Collingwood	88	22	22	22	22
3	Amber McGregor	80	20	20	20	20
4	Holly Williams	67	18	18	16	15
5	Erin Howes	60	16	16	12	16
6	Jaymee Garrood	58	14	15	15	14
7	Sophie Jones	52	12	14	13	13
8	Sasha Tollet	51	13	12	14	12
9	Hannah Jones	36	–	–	18	18
10	Caitlin Newman	26	15	11	–	–
11	Lilly Moreland	24	11	13	–	–

Vets Over 40

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Jamie Dobson	89	20	22	25	22
2	Lee Martin	88	18	25	20	25
3	James Lane	83	25	16	22	20
4	Sam Callow	78	22	20	18	18
5	Richard Meakin	59	15	14	16	14
6	Andrew Woodhouse	56	11	15	15	15
7	Mark Swift	48	16	18	14	–
8	Frazer Turner	47	9	12	13	13
9	Ben Knifton	44	10	11	11	12
10	Ady Lakey	42	14	–	12	16
11	Stephen Thorley	25	12	13	–	–
12	Brad Jackson-Graham	18	8	10	–	–
13	Sam Vickers	13	13	–	–	–

Vets Over 50

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Simon Lane	100	25	25	25	25
2	Matt Ryder	84	20	20	22	22
3	Nicholas Pawson	70	18	14	18	20
4	Ste Marlow	64	16	15	15	18
5	Simon Bonser	64	22	22	20	–
6	Adrian Smith	62	14	16	16	16
7	Danny Shiers	33	15	18	–	–

Vets Over 60

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Brian Staples	100	25	25	25	25
2	Paul Blick	66	22	22	22	–

Big Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Stanley Siebert	100	25	25	25	25
2	Sean Smout	82	22	22	16	22
3	Alfie Pincher	82	20	20	22	20
4	Archie Humphrey	67	16	18	15	18
5	Ryan Tilley	60	14	14	18	14
6	Finn Fitzgerald	59	8	15	20	16
7	Brodie Knock	53	13	16	9	15
8	jimmy Whiston	48	15	10	14	9
9	Ethan Spurr	47	11	11	13	12
10	Harry Pollitt	36	10	13	–	13
11	Sam Ward	36	12	12	12	–
12	Daniel Gater	30	9	–	10	11
13	Ioan Lloyd	30	–	9	11	10
14	Aston Whitehead	18	18	–	–	–

Small Wheel 85

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Freddie Darvill	100	25	25	25	25
2	Freddie Smith	88	22	22	22	22
3	George Milnes	78	20	20	20	18
4	Connor Johnston	74	18	18	18	20
5	Luke Swift	64	16	16	16	16
6	Sebastian Perrins-Talbot	59	14	15	15	15
7	Harry Sayce	57	15	14	14	14

Clubman – Senior

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Michael Harbage	91	22	25	22	22
2	Oliver Parry	85	25	22	18	20
3	Ricky Ryder	66	18	18	16	14
4	Louis Tilley	65	20	14	20	11
5	Jed Reeson	61	14	16	15	16
6	Lloyd Clarke	60	16	20	14	10
7	Luke Bradley	55	13	15	12	15
8	Mason Harris	53	12	12	11	18
9	Ben Harrison	50	–	–	25	25
10	Billy MCgillivray	44	11	11	10	12
11	Kurt Talbot	37	15	9	13	–
12	George Bromley	32	9	10	6	7
13	Rhyce Ward	30	10	13	7	–
14	Daniel Lomas	28	7	8	5	8
15	Jamie Johnson	22	–	–	9	13
16	Paul Wain	17	–	–	8	9
17	Matthew Hall	8	8	–	–	–

Clubman – Junior

Pos	Competitor	Total Points	r 1	r 2	r 3	r 4
1	Lewis Day	92	22	20	25	25
2	Oliver Critchley	84	20	22	22	20
3	Harvey Hunt	78	25	25	12	16
4	Benjamin Prosser	72	18	18	18	18
5	Leighton Price	58	–	16	20	22
6	Jack Breakwell	58	15	15	14	14
7	Reuben Atkinson	52	12	12	15	13
8	Matthew Limer	49	13	14	13	9
9	Joseph Harvey	46	14	13	8	11
10	Connor Lynds	38	16	–	10	12
11	Ryan Murphy	38	10	9	9	10
12	George Wilcox	38	9	10	11	8
13	William Siddons	31	–	–	16	15
14	Ryan Neale	29	11	11	7	–
15	Tom Sayce	28	8	8	5	7
16	Calum Marlow	24	7	7	4	6
17	Samuel Trinder	15	6	4	2	3
18	Chris Duckett	12	–	5	3	4
19	Milo Humphrey	11	–	–	6	5
20	George Rees	11	4	6	1	–
21	Adam Webb	5	5	–	–	–